Alan Hutton insists he will be fully focused on his job when Ashley Young returns to Villa Park in a Manchester United shirt.
Young is making his first appearance at his former club following his summer exit, and Villa defender Hutton only has thoughts of trying to stop the tricky winger.
The 27-year-old admits he’s had a tough time of late after attempting to combat Gareth Bale for Alex McLeish’s side, while earlier in the season, the Scotland international went toe-to-toe with Brazil’s wonderkid Neymar and then Spain’s David Villa.
Hutton regards the England midfielder in the same class as Neymar and Villa, telling The Sun: “I suspect I’m going to walk off the pitch mentally and physically shattered.
“I’ve played against Ashley before and he’s one of those wingers who can give you real problems.
ALAN Knight is sweating on the fitness of several players ahead of his first game in charge at Maidenhead United this afternoon.
The new Dorchester Town boss took training on Thursday night but was forced to cut the session short due to a bug in the camp.
He told Echosport: “One or two have gone down with stomach upsets so that, along with the fact we had a game on Tuesday night, meant we had to cut training short on Thursday, which I suppose was my official unveiling. <
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Manchester City insist they will not allow Carlos Tevez to leave on the cheap despite his present absence from the club.
With the impasse over Tevez’s future no nearer to being resolved, Press Association Sport understands the striker’s long-time advisor Kia Joorabchian has spoken with AC Milan about a possible move for the player.
The Serie A giants, who have confirmed their place in the Champions League knockout round despite losing to Barcelona in the San Siro, are one of the few clubs in the world who could afford Tevez.
Given City manager Roberto Mancini has twice stated publicly that, as far as he is concerned, the player has no future with the Blues, it would hardly be a surprise that Joorabchian was discussing Tevez with potential suitors.
Indeed, the Premier League leaders are relaxed about that situation, acknowledging such goings on are hardly exclusive to Tevez.
IRELAND joined Australia at the top of the World Cup leaderboard after a 68 from Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in today’s foursomes lifted them to 13 under par.
Starting the day two behind overnight leaders Australia, the Irish duo produced six birdies and two bogeys in the alternate shot format at the Mission Hills Resort on Hainan Island in China.
It moved them level with Richard Green and Brendon Jones, who posted a 70. Scotland, meanwhile, are one off the pace on 12 under following a 69.
“Today was good,” McIlroy told reporters.
“Both of us are very pleased about the score that we ended up shooting today. Read more…
Max Mirnyi of Belarus (R) and his partner Daniel Nestor of Canada (L) talk between points against Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and his partner Michael Llodra of France during their group B doubles match in the round robin stage on day five of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London on November 24, 2011.
The Australian left-hander made five birdies in a closing round of 69 and edged out compatriot John Senden by a solitary stroke after the latter’s long birdie putt at the last curled just around the back of the hole.
Former world No 1 Tiger Woods’ return to form saw him finish third, two shots behind Chalmers, but after finishing with an impressive 67 he would have been rueing missed opportunities during his third round of 75 yesterday.
Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy stormed home with a sizzling 65 to finish in a five-way tie for fourth place, while Adam Scott (68) was among the group of players at nine under.